This weekend, I attended a conference with a mix of professional and non-professional speakers. The difference in speaking skills and my resulting interest and retention was notable. Maybe you’ve had similar experiences. When you hire a professional speaker, you take for granted a range of capabilities. 

I occupied myself during the more excruciating sessions by jotting down those key skills. They determine a professional’s value along with their fame and other factors:

Professional vs. Non-Professional Speakers

Big words only when explained or audience is familiar/Overuses big words for no discernable benefit

Clean verbal delivery/Run-on sentences galore

Modulated tone/Monotone, racing through delivery

Talks TO audience in language and body posture/Talks to screen, reads verbatim off screen

Confident & Energetic/Verbal crutches and full of clichés

Reflects the real world/Overly academic

Storytelling/Straight information dump

Simplicity/Why keep it simple when you can show off your vocabulary?

Visuals, skillful use of presentation technology/Text only or overly reliant on technology vs. substance

Personalizes to audience/Abstract & detached from attendees

Personal & Professional credibility enhances audience engagement/No pre-speech credibility, an uphill battle

Original content/Book report, summarizes others’ work

Timed to fit preset duration/Runs over significantly

Tight, insightful answers to audience questions/rambling, canned answers

Well practiced (dozens or hundreds of times for similar speech)/Inadequately practiced

Provocative points of view/Predictable

Big picture/Minutae

I can’t wait to hear what they’ll say next/Can’t wait for this to end

This event host knows what they are doing and are a trusted resource/What were they thinking? What do they think of me?